Following the team with a unique perspective on all things Phillies.Email me: PhilliesPhollowers@comcast.net – Peace, Love & Baseball – Jenn

Meet The Newbie’s

So another Opening Day has passed and the Phillies are on their way to global dominance…or, something like it anyway ;o)If you missed my photos from the event, check out the PHOTO ALBUM which includes Opening Day ceremonies, President Obama’s first pitch and game action.

And now it is time to start the season off right and introduce yourselves to the newest members of the 2010 Phillies.The first one is easy…if you do not know who Roy Halladay is, you are clearly not a Phillies fan.No worries though…only one game has passed; you have time to catch up .Here is Mr. Halladay on the right with his very, very serious pre-game face on.This former Cy Young winner goes by the nickname “Doc” and he is pretty amazing.Enough said.

The few players you may not know well include pitchers Danys Baez, Jose Contreras and David Herndon; outfielder Ross Gload, infielder Juan Castro and catcher Brian Schneider, pictured here in that order from left to right, top to bottom:

Both Baez and Contreras are Cuban defectors; Baez is in his 9th major league season, pitched last for the Orioles and has a name that defies normal spelling rules.Contreras, not as hard to spell, is in his 7th season and helped the Yankees coin the term “Evil Empire” when they signed him over the Red Sox back in 2002.In other words, the Sox were pissed….end of story.

Herndon was in the Angels minor leagues last year and this will be his first shot at the bigs.Ladies, he is single and plays the guitar…go get him!I kid…

As for Gload, this is his 9th season in the majors and his 6th team.He is a lifetime .283 hitter and should be a solid bench player for the Phillies. Castro is another veteran going into his 16th season; he will be 38 in June and may start taking the same youth-inducing vitamins Jamie Moyer does ;o)He is not a power hitter, but will be a good defensive back-up for the infield.Schneider, formerly of the Mets and Nationals, is very familiar with the Phillies.And as a former Phillies-killer, we are glad to have him on our side now.His 11th season will be served as back-up to Carlos Ruiz.

And as a bonus, here are a few guys who are not really new, but you may not know them.Pitchers Antonio Bastardo and Drew Carpenter are still rookies who spent a very short time with the Phillies last year.They spent most of 2009 in the Phillies minors.

And then there is Placido Polanco, who returns to the Phillies after almost a 5 year absence; he was traded in 2005 to the Tigers.But after his record-setting performance of 6 RBI in one game yesterday, the most by any Phillie on Opening Day, I am confident you now know who he is.Welcome back, Polly!

Left to right: Bastardo, Carpenter, Polanco

Cole Hamels will take the mound against the Nationals in game 2 tomorrow at 7:05pm…Go Phillies!

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